Friday, December 12, 2008

Here's an image I shoot in a Romanian farmer's market. In fact is the farmer's market that's taking place every day in my neighborhood. In every city/town there are several like this one. People come here, expose their merchandise..and negotiate for the whole day. They sell everything from tasty and healthy food to flowers and all sort of small gadgets.. you know, like in a real farmer's market. Romania is one of the few countries I know that runs these kind of markets every day of the week. And I am glad I can buy healthy, organic food at a decent price..

..whenever I want. The downside of the Romanian "new society" is that I/we don't care so much about healthy food. Or at least I think so because everybody is buying the nice looking, not so healthy food from the supermarkets. If you want to go in a supermarket to buy just a six-pack and some snacks in a Saturday afternoon or in any other evening, you will end up spending whole 2 hours "running" in the supermarket to get your products and pay them. It is so crowded that you feel like being in a car jam on the highway.. The supermarket and the fast-food trend is very successful these days. Or at least I think so. The great advantage we have compared with other countries is that we still have alternatives.. farmer's markets.

3 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Yes, it's nice. However, I can tell you that in other civilized countries such as the one I live in, the supermarket style stores have now a section called Organics with a huge selection of products ranging from meat and dairy to all vegetables and most fruits. And it's not much more expensive. For example 1kg of regular onion is $1.19 while 1kg of organic onion is$1.99. People ARE health conscious.

Oh.. That's good. I thought it is much more expensive to buy organic food than regular one. Like 2 times, 3 times.

I think we are not so health conscious. We are in a preliminary phase when we buy and we buy and we buy.. a lot :( At least that's my feeling. Everybody is running after the "buy 2, get 1 for free" offers. I heard lots of people having to throw food because it gets expired or it is not that tasty anymore after a while.

By the way.. which type of onions do regular people buy? Do they prefer to buy 2kg of organic onions or do they prefer 3kg of regular onions which look a little bit better for the same price?

It depends on the product, but no, I haven't seen anything organic to cost more than 2x the price of its regular grown equivalent. Regardless, it's worth it.

Well, intelectual people know the value of natural food. Also, generally, educated people read and earn more, are aware and don't think twice about the price.

I personally would buy a 2kg bag of organic onions rather than 3kg of regular onions for the same price. Why let it rot and then throw away? We have enough garbage already. Of course, if too much food, some will have to be frozen. When needed to be cooked, won't have any taste after a while ig it sat fo too long.

Yes, and I love to go shopping at open air markets. I love to buy often but fresh and not large quantities.

And, how can anyone throw food away when there are needy people in the world? We should at least have the decency to consume according to our needs and set a limit. But I unfortunately have to agree, majority of people would buy whatever product that offers more for the same money and what's worse, even if they don't need it. This is not saving, it is waste. Quantity vs quality. It should be the other way around.

Yes, people may be tempted to buy something they don't need only because they get one for free. But, we need to stop and think. Do I need it? That's the key to it all. OK, if based on experience I believe I need more of something or a backup and I know the product will last longer, I may consider the promotion.

But most people stop thinking rationally. Or, they aren't educated this way.